Falling for Mr. Wrong by Inara Scott Page A

awkward?”
    “Awkward?” Kelsey buried her face in her hands. “Oh no. What could possibly be awkward about babysitting for the guy you did upside down in a hotel bathroom?”
    Marie blinked. She looked at Oscar and clucked her tongue. “I can’t believe she said that in front of you, honey. I’m so sorry. Thank goodness your brain hasn’t developed enough to comprehend speech.” She crossed over to Kelsey’s side and lowered herself onto the arm of the sofa. “This may be an ill-timed question, but you didn’t lose the job, did you? I mean, I just need to know what to say to Hope.”
    Kelsey did not look up. “Yeah, thanks for your concern. I love you, too.”
    “You know I’m a heartless businesswoman first, best friend second.”
    Kelsey snorted. “Right.”
    “Okay, seriously. If it’s that terrible I won’t send you back.” Marie bit her lip and looked down at Oscar. “I suppose I could handle it myself. I’d just bring Oscar along. His mom would understand. I think.”
    Marie might not have been heartless, but she was skilled in the use of guilt. Kelsey knew there was no way she could actually insist on not going back. “Don’t do that. I mean, watching the kids did turn into a series of horrible disasters, but that’s just like the rest of my life, so there’s nothing new there. It was seeing Ross that sucked.”
    “How did he react?”
    “He wasn’t happy about it.”
    “Oh.” Marie winced. “Ouch.”
    “Yeah. I mean, he didn’t say anything mean. But he didn’t have to. It was obvious he didn’t want me there.”
    “But why? I thought you had a great night together. You told me it was one of those beautiful ‘star-crossed lovers, love at first sight’ sort of nights. Not that I’ve ever had one of those myself, except maybe with Oscar here.” She planted a quick kiss on the baby’s head.
    “That’s the problem,” Kelsey said. “We never thought we’d see each other again. We talked about crazy, secret things. He told me how he felt about his divorce. I told him I didn’t think I was coming back from Annapurna. Now he thinks I’m some kind of insane person with a death wish—not exactly the sort you want watching your children.”
    Marie waggled a finger in her direction. “He may have a point, you know. Seen your dad today? What training schedule has he put together for this week?”
    There were only a few things in Kelsey’s life she refused to talk about, even with Marie. Her father happened to be one of them. “Don’t you think I’ve had enough of a crappy day already, without bringing up my dad?”
    “Fine. Then I’ll quiz you about Ross instead,” Marie said. “What’s the chance of future upside-down shower sex?”
    Kelsey tried to imagine Ross whispering naughty words into her ear while water rushed over them. All she got was an image of his brows pressed together with distaste, and his voice saying, “Are you sure you’re qualified?”
    “I’m going to say limited ,” she said. “I think he wanted to kick me out in the morning, but he’s got some rush presentation thing to do for Herriot at the end of the week, so he told me to come back tomorrow at nine.”
    “So he’s a jerk.” Marie dropped a kiss on Oscar’s head. “And I thought he was so promising.”
    “He’s not a jerk. I wish he were a jerk. He’s just being a protective dad and I’m a weird chick he hooked up with in a bar who suddenly appeared to be his babysitter.” Kelsey rubbed a hand across her face. “It was just so uncomfortable. Like running into your gynecologist at the park. Please, please, please tell me Hope is going to be able to go back on Wednesday. Because two days of this is all I can handle.”
    Marie cleared her throat. “Well, there’s a chance…”
    “ No ,” Kelsey wailed. She grabbed a throw pillow and held it over her face.
    With one hand, Marie peeled the flowered brocade back a few inches. “She’s still in pretty bad shape.”
    Kelsey made